The Restoration Era is the least understood period of Bible history. But without understanding the foundations laid during this time, we misinterpret the ‘apocalyptic’ passages in the New Testament. We won’t understand John’s new Jerusalem if we think Nehemiah’s is just about restoring a broken community.
As God’s bouncers, the Levites carried swords to keep non-priests out of the Holy Place. In the New Covenant, the Laver has been replaced by baptism. The waters of baptism are a doorway into the city of God, the ‘crystal’ walls of water standing up by the breath of God, and Christian elders are the new Levites at the twelve gates.
This means that the church can’t just accept everyone into membership. Nehemiah kicked Tobiah out of the Temple rooms but most modern churches would offer him a place on the worship team. The church, as a city with crystal walls, must be transparent so the world can see the enthroned Christ at her centre.
First century Israel muddied the waters by tolerating compromise. Pluralism and relativism can be traced back to the church of God. It’s the church’s fault. Secular humanism is just a perversion of Christianity.
Peter Leithart writes:
“The climax of the prophetic denunciation of the merchandising of Babylon in Revelation 18 is the judgment that Babylon/Jerusalem has “deceived” the nations “by your sorcery” (18:23). This is immediately followed by the charge that “in her was found all the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth” (18:24). Thus, the deceived people of the land become deceivers for the whole world. Sound familiar? Liberal churchmen deceive the nations into an ideology of tolerance and pluralism.”1
Babylon never changes. She tolerates everything, and kills anyone who disagrees. My point is, she is always a corruption of the true worship, a mediator gone bad, a narrow door made wide.
Bible Matrix blog
